


Ka-chow!

by gerardsleftarmpit



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies), My Chemical Romance, Rick and Morty, Shark Tale (2004), Tom and Jerry (MGM/Hanna-Barbera), Wii Sports (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, M/M, POV Third Person, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 14,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28497930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gerardsleftarmpit/pseuds/gerardsleftarmpit
Summary: Tom is a pessimistic high school student with almost nothing going for him. That is, until he meets Lightning McQueen, who is optimistic and always has a joke ready to brighten his day.
Relationships: Tom Cat/Lightning McQueen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. First Day

Tom sits up in bed and rubs his eyes.

Another dreary first day of school; get in, get out, and he doesn’t know how long he will be able to handle it.

He knows the drill by now. Stay up late doing homework to earn grades he isn’t even sure he will, only to wake up before the fucking sun rises to see people he hates for 8 hours of the day.

He starts making his bed, which may seem impractical to some, but to him, it is a way to think while being productive at the same time. He changes into his striped tee shirt and khakis that he picked out for himself the night before. He brushes his teeth, eats breakfast, grabs his backpack, and jumps into his ugly car to get to school.


	2. Lola

Traffic is always an unpleasant experience, but at least it provides more precious moments for him to think. It is in moments like these where Tom actually confronts his problems instead of putting them aside, and thinks about what actually makes him angry and sad at the world.

Tom starts thinking about Jerry. He spent much of his childhood chasing Jerry, playing the old cat and mouse game, only for Jerry to slip through his fingers and laugh in his face for even trying. No matter how hard Tom tries to tell Jerry he loves him, Jerry rejects him. Tom and Jerry hadn’t seen each other at all that summer, and Tom wonders whether Jerry even remembers him anymore. Nothing he does is good enough. 

_Thanks a lot, Jerry. You’re the reason I’m depressed. Maybe you could’ve tried treating me like I have fucking emotions for once._

KA-KLANK!

Tom is jerked back to reality as he drives over a huge pothole in his school’s shitty parking lot. 

_Why couldn’t that one have killed me?_

He finally finds a parking spot and begrudgingly parks his dirty car near a sleek red one that looks like it belongs on a race track. He looks around the parking lot and notices that not only did this sweet ride make his car look like a worm mobile, it also happens to be the nicest car in the entire lot. He wonders which stuck-up spoiled brat had the nerve to show up with a car like that on the first day of school as he walks through his school gates.

Once again, he is reminded of how lonely he is, as he sees laughing students clumped together in groups tighter than his shirt over his protruding stomach. Why would Jerry even love him anyway? He is fat because he can’t watch what he eats. If he can’t take care of himself, how can he take care of Jerry’s needs?

Tom can’t seem to stop thinking such things about himself, and nothing anyone said can make him feel otherwise.

That is, except for one fish.

As he starts walking to his first period class, Tom sees her come out from one of the other wings and start walking in front of him. Someone that used to make his heart beat faster. Lola, his ex-girlfriend. They were together for the majority of Tom’s junior year, the previous school year. He never even had the courage to approach her; the only thing he did was send her a video professing his love, and she looked past his flaws and held his paw. They started talking more often, finding things in common. Just seeing her smile made him forget memories of his bad days. Sometimes he said things that made her laugh and he felt like it was Halloween and his birthday all at once. She didn’t just feel sorry for him; she actually loved him and Tom found himself questioning how it could be real all the time. She was the only one that listened to him. The only one that cared. She was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

Until everything crashed and burned, leaving his fur singed.

==========================================================================================

Towards the end of the school year, Tom asked Lola to the “Good-Bye Seniors” dance. Brandishing all his courage, Tom asked her out with a decorated poster with pictures and memories of moments they had together. Much to Tom’s relief, Lola graciously accepted. The dance had been one of the most exciting feelings of Tom’s life. He felt like he would never forget seeing Lola’s eyes gleam as she looked up through the glass ceiling and admired the stars. He remembered how it felt to kiss her under the moon’s gentle light and to see her focus on him, only him that night. Whenever a slow-dance song came on, they held each other as if they were the only two people left in the world. When Tom looked into Lola’s eyes that night, he almost felt as if he could see a little bit of his soul in them. 

Soon enough, however, things took a turn for the worse. Lola invited Tom to her house to meet her parents after the dance. As soon as he set foot into her furniture catalogue-esque house, Tom felt their judging stares on his back as he turned to close the front door.

Negative thoughts immediately came flying into his head, drowning out the bliss from the dance before.

Did he smell bad? Was it because he was too fat? Too ugly? Too insecure?

Or, god forbid, maybe Lola had said bad things about him.

He spent the most uncomfortable moments of his life at that dinner table, hating himself for eating so much of Lola’s parents’ food, knowing they didn’t even like him. Tom found himself binging even more than usual due to stress, thus hating himself even more. He had pictured many ways he could have messed up, and somehow managed to avoid them all. But, somehow, he still managed to fuck everything up. 

As soon as he left the house, the door was slammed in his face and he heard Lola arguing with her parents behind the door. With every loud word Tom heard, his heart thrust itself against his chest. His vision blurred and he felt his legs grow weak. _Great, not only did you make her parents hate you, but you also got her in trouble._

Tom dragged himself into the driver’s seat of his car. He dreaded the ride home, knowing that he would be trapped in his own thoughts. He could feel the back of his neck heat up and he felt feverish as he pushed himself farther and farther into a hole of self deprecation. 

_Oh fuck, what did I do this time? I knew it was too good to last. There’s no way a loser like me could have such a beautiful long term girlfriend. God I am so fucking stupid; I can’t do anything right! Why did I even bother getting my hopes up?_

He could feel himself losing breath and starting to cry so he forced himself to relax. 

Breathe in, breathe out. All the way to the garage. 

His paw shook as he unlocked the garage door. As he entered, Tom hastily wiped tears off his face, kept his head low so his parents wouldn’t see him crying. Unfortunately for him, his mother was eagerly waiting for him. 

“How did it go Tom? Did her parents like you?” his clueless mother inquired.

Tom couldn’t speak, knowing that if he did, his voice would start shaking and betray his feelings to his mother. So he just ran past her, mumbling something under his breath about how much homework he had.


	3. Morty

The next day, Tom woke up bombarded with the knowledge that he would have to see Lola at school and confront her about the terrible meeting. He had briefly considered feigning sickness, and decided against it, as it would make him look even weaker than he already was.

Tom went through the motions of the morning in a trancelike state, until he thought about Lola, which sent a spike of cold fear into his heart.

He walked into school hoping that he could delay seeing Lola as long as possible. He used to always meet up with Lola near the school's cafeteria and walk to first period together. But he was sure those days would be over.

Tom was stunned when not only did he see Lola standing there as usual, but with a somber look on her face.

Abandoning his original plan of avoiding her, Tom walked over to her and instinctively stroked her cheek with his thumb. She reached up and pulled his paw from her face as if she were moving a metal bar.

“What’s wrong, Lola?” Tom asked desperately.

He could tell she was struggling not to cry as she spoke.

“My parents… we can’t be... ohhh, Tom!” Lola broke into tears.

Tom gently grabbed her fin and pulled her away from the crowds.

“What is it, Lola? Did I do something wrong? It’s okay, I’m sure we can work it out.”

“No Tom, you don’t understand. You didn’t do anything wrong. My parents don’t like you because you’re a CAT.” She scoffed. “ I still love you, Tom, but my dad threatened to hurt you if he ever saw you again. Both my parents said they would never forgive me for loving a cat. I’m so sorry, and you mean so much to me, but I don’t think we can be together.”

Tom wasn't able to believe it. His girlfriend’s parents looked at his feline face and turned him away without listening to a single word he said. It didn’t matter to them that he would put their daughter above everything else. It didn’t matter to them that he spent an hour worrying about his appearance just to meet them. It didn’t matter to them that Tom made their daughter feel special and that she loved him .

How could anyone make decisions about someone with such a miniscule facet of their appearance, which in of itself is a miniscule facet of one's identity?

Tom was struck with the reality that he and Lola were over. There was no way their relationship could continue. Tom thought he would cry, that he would bemoan his loss of Lola’s affections for months. But all he felt was numbness.

Tom realized that he could never bear malice towards Lola. It wasn’t her fault her parents felt that way. SHE never treated him any differently, and he even recalled hearing her fight for him behind the slammed door last night. That part of him would miss her something fierce. That part of him would tug on his heart wherever she walked by for the rest of his life.

From then on, Tom and Lola remained cordial towards each other and never spoke about their relationship for the rest of the year. Sometimes they even made each other laugh like they were something close to friends. Tom was still, however, eternally thankful that he and Lola broke up towards the end of the school year, so he didn’t have to see her much.

Tom snaps out of his reverie into his daily school life.

_Oh shit! She’s right there._

Lola looks behind herself and Tom immediately diverts his gaze. He hopes that if she sees him she will think he’s preoccupied. Too bad Lola was too friendly for that.

“Hi Tom!”

Tom gives in and lifts his reddened face to meet hers.

“Hi, Lola...” Tom replied sheepishly. “Are you in Mr. Poopybutthole’s first period English class too?”

She smiles softly at him as she replies, “ Yes, I am. Did you hear that he fought off 7 students that tried to attack him even though he has to use a cane?”

Tom should have known that Lola is too mature to make things weird between them.

“Wow, really? At least if he does the same to us, I’ll have an excuse to stay home. ”

Lola laughs as the bell rings.

She starts walking towards Mr. Poopybutthole's class, and Tom follows her as if it is the most natural thing to do.

Unfortunately for Tom, Mr. Poopybutthole already has a seating chart set up so Tom doesn’t get to sit next to Lola, the only one he knows.  
“Oooweee!” Mr. Poopybutthole exclaims. “This sure is a small class!”

The students laugh at his uncommon catchphrase, and for the first time that day Tom lets a glimmer of hope trickle its way through.

Perhaps this year won’t be so bad, after all.

The rest of the day has a similar trend. He finds his second, third, and fourth periods okay. He likes the teachers well enough and immerses himself into conversation with the students in his classes. For Tom, the conversations are quite an accomplishment, considering that he doesn’t have many friends and isn’t good at making them.

At lunch, Tom searches for his best friend, Morty, and hopes that he saved a spot for him. Tom finally finds his best friend, Morty, and sits down next to him. As soon as Tom hits the cafeteria bench, Morty launches into a detailed description of his shitty day thus far.

“Brooo, none of my teachers are even giving me a chance! How do they do that? Look at my face and immediately realize that I’m a slacker? I tried to reform my ways, but I don’t even see the point anymore. On top of that, none of the girls are interested in me. I tried all my usual seduction methods: told them they look pretty, asked for a pencil, pickup lines, the list goes onnn. None of it worked. I’m just like you now, dude,” Morty laments.

Tom becomes defensive at Morty’s last remark. “What do you mean ‘you’re just like me?’”

“You know… lonely, single, however you want to say it.”

Tom stays silent for a while, not wanting Morty to know that his offhand remark had struck a nerve.

Fortunately for Tom, Morty understands social cues and recognizes the error of his words. “Sorry bro, I didn’t mean it like that. I know you and Lola had an awful breakup. That shit is hard to recover from.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it like that.”

The tension between them dissolves as Morty changes the topic and launches into a rant about how his teachers assigned homework on the first day of school.

Tom is content in listening to his friend rant, and he nods occasionally to show that he agrees. Morty’s rants and complaints about the school system may lead some to believe that he is not intelligent, but Tom knows his friend better than to think that. He knows that the school system failed Morty and that it’s not his fault.

Sometimes Tom wonders if Morty and himself were only friends because they were the only ones that would listen to each other and validate each other’s emotions. Sure, Tom has other friends. Most of them however, are only fleeting and none of them would understand him as well as Morty does. Most of them had little patience for Tom’s self-deprecation and Morty’s tendency to constantly deviate from social norms.

When Tom talked about his insecurities with his other friends, or anyone else for that matter, they always thought of him as weak and unmasculine, or even said that his insecurities were his own fault. When Tom told Morty that he liked guys in a romantic sense, Morty never thought of him any different. Tom didn’t tell many others about his romantic preferences. Not that it made any difference, they all thought he was gay anyways. The guys were disgusted by him, and the girls pretended he didn’t exist. Tom’s peers would even assume that Morty was Tom’s boyfriend, and instead of blaming Tom for it, Morty would simply laugh and claim that he “liked tits too much for that.” Tom doesn’t really blame his peers for thinking like that. It’s a logical assumption to make. Tom likes guys, so of the course the only guy he hangs out with all the time would be his boyfriend. It was surprising to Tom himself, however, that he never had romantic feelings for Morty. Even if Morty liked guys too, he was and would always be Tom’s best friend and confidant, but nothing else.

Tom and Morty compare schedules as they finish the last bits of their lunch. They are pleased to see that for once they share a class together. They have a 6th period together. The bell rings to signal the end of lunch, and Morty and Tom take off together towards their 6th period class.

Morty and Tom sit down together in Mr. Goldenfold’s math class. Mr.Goldenfold is zealous about math and Tom groans inwardly, hoping against hope that Mr. Goldenfold won’t be that teacher.


	4. Physics

Tom and Morty walk out of Mr. Goldenfold’s class and stop to look at their schedules. Morty heads towards the arts department because he didn’t have to have talent for Theater I.

Tom however, stays there, staring at his schedule in confusion. Their school has two gyms, and apparently, his AP Physics I class is in the smaller of the two.

Tom decides that it wouldn’t help him at all to just there, so he starts walking toward the gym dubiously.

Tom grabs the steel handle of one of the heavy double doors and pulls the door open. He stares straight ahead in bewilderment at what he sees.

It’s the sweet red ride from the parking lot! Jesus Christ, he’s talking to all the students! HE’s our teacher?

Tom walks into the room shyly hoping to not be noticed, considering that he doesn’t know anyone there. He keeps his head down, but for the second time that day, it doesn’t work.

“Hello there! What’s your name?” booms the ~~car~~ teacher from a large desk at the front of the room.

“T-Tom” he responds shakily, and manages a slight smile in hopes of making up for his awkwardness.

“Have a seat, Tom! I’m Lightning McQueen and I’ll be your AP Physics teacher from now to the rest of the school year!”

Tom looks at the desks set up in neat columns and rows. Much to his chagrin, he can’t find one in the back so he can hide his face. In fact, the only one empty is one in the front right in the fucking middle of the row.

_Why did I have to take so long getting here?_

For once, Tom wishes for a seating chart as he reluctantly sits down in the empty desk. Tom knows no one is paying attention to him, but it doesn’t stop him from feeling the weight of the entire class’ stares.

The bell rings and Mr. McQueen continues in his cheery, confident voice, “First day? No one late? Holy cow, class! We’re already off to a good start!”

A few students laugh in response to gain Mr. McQueen’s favor or to be polite. All Tom can think of is how tortuous it will be to constantly witness Mr. McQueen’s enthusiasm and confidence and know that Mr. McQueen is all the types happy and fulfilled that Tom himself can never be.

Tom loses concentration as Mr. McQueen talks about his previous teaching experiences. Tom listens well enough to know that Mr. McQueen is sharing anecdotes about other students he had encountered. Tom has no intention of listening. He doesn’t need to hear about the C average student that got a 5, or the teacher’s pets that cheated and failed.

Tom is jolted back into reality when he hears his name. His head snaps up as he stares into Mr. McQueen’s huge blue eyes.

“Tom can you pass out my syllabus? I would do it myself, but I’m a car.”

Tom doesn’t laugh and wordlessly walks up the front of the root and takes the stack of syllabuses from Mr. McQueen’s desk. Tom is relieved that Mr. McQueen doesn’t call out his shyness and starts passing out the papers. In fact, Mr. McQueen dives into another anecdote, and Tom swears Mr. McQueen notices his discomfort and takes the class’s attention away from him.

To Tom’s surprise, no one tries to trip him as he passes out papers, and some even mutter “thank-yous” under their breath.

Tom sits back down when he is done and Mr. McQueen catches him in his gaze once more.

“Thank you Tom. I guess now that everyone has their syllabus I don’t have any excuse to dawdle.”

For once, Tom doesn’t think that he has a death wish for sitting in the center of the front row. Weirdly enough, Tom finds himself enjoying the newfound attention he received from his Physics teacher.

At the end of a long day, Tom arrives back home. For once, Tom willingly tells his parents about his day.

_Maybe part of why I’m so happy is how friendly Lola acted towards me._

“Well, you know how I stopped talking about Lola? That’s because it hurt too much to talk about her. But I feel like I finally received some closure today because Lola and I were able to act completely friendly towards each other. I feel like that made the rest of my day much better, and I really feel like this might be my best year yet.”

“That’s excellent Tom!” his mother exclaimed, while his father proudly patted him on the back. “ I’m so glad you’re finally finding yourself; I knew that you could do it, it just takes you more time.

Tom beams, proud that he can make his parents happy. Even though Tom tends to be miserable, he has always had the support of his parents. He is extremely grateful for this, but sometimes he also feels as if he’s a burden to his parents because of the unwavering faith they have in him, and his inability to provide substance for that faith.

Tom realizes that he has to satisfy his parents expectations now. Now that he got their hopes up, he has to have a good year. He knows he can’t handle seeing their faces fall one more time, and he knows they can’t handle seeing their son flail around in the cave of his own insecurities any longer. He just hopes his grip is firm enough to hold onto the slippery rock.

“Don’t you dare let your parents down Tom. They’ve done so much for you; it’s the least you could do for them.”

Tom has a snac-

“You stupid piece of shit. Can you stop eating for one fucking second? You’re still going to eat? You know you’re a piece of shit?”

His self-deprecating thoughts finally get to him as he has one last potato chip and drags his backpack upstairs with him.


	5. Homework

Tom pulls out his syllabuses and pushes them aside. He’ll just forge his parents signatures later, not because they won't sign, but because he’s too lazy to ask them to. 

Tom pulls out his math worksheet from Mr. Goldenfold’s class and stares at it. He doesn’t remember a single thing he learned that day and once again he hates himself for not paying attention. He sighs as he pulls out his phone to look up the answers. 

Just when he thought that he was starting to get a grip on his schoolwork his intelligence fails him once again. Disappointed in himself, Tom finds the answers for his math homework on his phone and copies them down. 

Tom knows he’s only hurting himself by not trying to learn from the hard questions, but he tells himself he will make up for it with his Physics homework. 

Today’s Physics lesson was pretty easy for him, all he had to do was do some basic calculations based on simple concepts they had learned in class that day. One question asked him what the difference was between distance and displacement, and Tom gained confidence as he answered it by explaining the differences between vectors and scalars. 

As Tom answered another question about the difference between average speed and constant speed, a glimpse of Mr. McQueen's big blue eyes pops into his head. Tom has never seen eyes like Mr. McQueen’s and as much as he hates attention, Tom realizes he wouldn’t mind having Mr. McQueen’s eyes on him. He can’t explain why, but Tom wants Mr. McQueen to like him. He wants Mr. McQueen to be proud of him. 

_ If only there was something to be proud of.  _

Tom sighs and removes himself from his thoughts and works on his homework, knowing he can’t expect Mr. McQueen to be proud of him if he can’t even get his homework done. 

Surprisingly, however, Tom manages to easily finish his Physics homework. Tom figures that it must be because it’s just the first day of school so the homework is easy, but he also knows that he usually can’t focus for ten straight minutes. 

_ Maybe this really is my year? _


	6. A Kind Smile

Tom hates school again already. It’s only the second day of school, yet homework keeps piling up, he gets more confused, and everyone seems to forget he exists. 

Tom remembers the only saving grace for his second day of school, when Mr. McQueen smiled at him as he walked into class. Most other teachers, even Mr. Poopybutthole, sat at their desks waiting for everyone to file in before starting class. Mr. McQueen, however, made Tom feel special by making sure to smile at him. Tom doesn’t even know if he does this to all his students or just him, but he doesn’t care. For someone as insecure as Tom a kind smile meant the world. 

Tom goes home another day, satisfied with his school day once more. Tom’s not perfectly happy, and he’s certainly not excited to go to school, but he figures that contentment is progress.


	7. Pride

A week goes by. Tom finds himself caught up in his school work, which provides a necessary distraction from his intrusive thoughts. Tom doesn’t hate school, but doesn’t enjoy it either; he feels indifferent and almost wishes that he felt worse so he could feel some semblance of emotion. 

That is until on the Friday of the next week, when Mr. McQueen announces that he will be having after school review sessions on Mondays. Tom is really trying to be proactive this year in terms of his school work, and he decides that attending these after school sessions with Mr. McQueen will be a good place to start. 

Mr. McQueen goes back to teaching and Tom continues taking notes. Tom is so immersed in his school work that he jerks in his seat when the student behind him taps him on the shoulder. He sees a boy with perfectly coiffed brown hair who hisses in an annoyingly pompous voice, “ Can you move? You’re blocking my view?” Tom was too shocked that someone had actually said something to him to register what the boy had said. Tom snaps back into focus to see the boy staring at him expectantly with an increasingly annoyed expression on his face. 

“Oh-h s-sorry” Tom whispers, realizing that he’s sitting on his feet and blocking the view of the whiteboard. 

_ Nice job Tom. You made someone hate you. What else is new?  _

For the rest of the lesson Tom can’t get the boy’s annoyed expression out of his head and wishes for the class period to end desperately. Tom starts wondering if Mr. McQueen had heard the whole exchange and witnessed Tom being a nuisance as his heart starts racing. He becomes lost in his thoughts and worries and wonders if he’ll even be able to muster enough courage to ask Mr. McQueen about the review session. 

Finally, miraculously, the bell rings for the end of the day and Tom starts packing his backpack. Even though Tom wants nothing more than to storm out of the gym, Tom knows that backing out now is not an option. Tom wants to have the best year he possibly can academically, and the only way he can do so is ask for help whether or not he embarrassed himself in front of his teacher. 

Tom’s paws sweat as he walks to the front of the room as quietly as he can towards the sign-up sheet attached to the wall. He hopes with all his heart that even if Mr. MCQueen witnessed the exchange between him and the other boy that he won’t comment on it. Tom reaches the wall and pulls off the uncapped pen taped to the wall and starts writing his name on the sign-up sheet. 

For the second time in that hour Tom is startled as he hears his name being called. He looks over towards the voice and is mortified to find that it belongs to Mr. McQueen.

As Mr.McQueen makes his way over to Tom, Tom shakes in fear of being scolded. Tom is struck dumb when Mr. McQueen beams at him. 

“ Nice job, Tom! Out of all my classes today you’re the only one to sign up for the review session! I can see how committed you are.”

_ So he didn’t see…? _

“T-thank you Mr. McQueen. I’m really trying to improve my grades this year.”

Mr. McQueen comes even closer to him and fixes his huge blue eyes onto Tom’s green ones. Normally Tom would feel the urge to break his gaze, but Mr. McQueen’s smile comforts him. 

“Well if you keep this dedication up, I’m sure you will.” Mr. McQueen gently lays a tire on Tom’s shoulder. “I’m looking forward to seeing you after school on Monday.” 


	8. Sweet Dreams

On his way back home Tom forgets what happened with the rude boy. All he can focus on is the place on his shoulder where Mr. McQueen had touched him. Tom is so touch starved that it seemed to burn a hole into his fur. 

Tom arrives at his house, and still swept up in his happy thoughts, goes straight upstairs to work on his homework instead of continuing his usual conflicts with himself over whether or not he should get a snack. 

Tom sits down at his desk and starts working on his Physics homework. Mr. McQueen’s praise has done wonders for his self-esteem and, once again, Tom is determined to make him proud.

That day Tom falls asleep happily with thoughts of Mr. Queen's big blue eyes dancing on the surface of his sleeping mind.


	9. Weekend

Although Tom would never admit to himself, Tom is dismayed that he didn’t hear the incessant beeping of his alarm clock. For one of the few times in his life, Tom wants the weekend to be over already so he can see Mr. McQueen again, especially at the review session. 

Tom fills his weekend with meaningless activities such as scrolling through his phone with TV in the background and homework to take his mind off of his anticipation for the weekend to end. 

Tom even ends up sleeping much earlier than usual in hopes that it will make Monday come faster, even though he knows that the practice has no logical basis.


	10. School Day

Finally Monday arrives. Tom gets up early and rushes to school. For the vast majority of his classes, Tom is dazed and doesn’t realize that things are happening without him knowing. 

Tom even made the mistake of falling asleep in his English class only to wake up to Mr. Poopybutthole grasping his shirt in both his hands and shaking him awake. 

Usually Tom would lay awake for weeks on end ruminating over such a humiliating incident, but this time, Tom didn’t give it much thought. Tom was too distracted from the anticipation of seeing Mr. McQueen’s broad grin. 

For once, Tom isn’t even insecure of his body in his PE uniform and receives praise from their teacher Matt. Matt is Tom’s best PE teacher ever, because despite being a “sports god” himself, Matt never expects anyone else to perform to his capability. Matt is humble and cool, to the point where he did not find it necessary to have his students call him by a formal title, and let them use his first name. 

Tom knows that even if he was slacking off in PE Matt wouldn’t call him out on it. If anything, Matt is kinder to him because Matt knows how insecure Tom feels in PE, and he makes an effort to make Tom feel comfortable. 

However, no matter how kind Matt is, the students never were, and Matt’s capability to understand meant nothing to the students who belittled Tom for not being as good at sports as they were. 

Considering that today Tom is out of it even more than usual, he is relieved to find that they are just doing warm ups and free play, where Tom usually ends up walking the track alone. Walking the track alone may seem shameful to some, but to Tom it is a great deal better than having to humiliate himself in front of his classmates. 

After the class is finished with the pre-recorded warmups, Matt dismisses everyone and they go off to do their respective activities, which, for Tom, means walking towards the track. The track is quite a distance away from the blacktop where the students did their warm up, but Tom doesn’t mind because the time it takes for him to walk to the track takes away from the time he will be walking alone on the track. 

When Tom finally gets to the track he starts walking, and he feels his heart sting as he looks towards the other students playing games with each other. He tells himself that these feelings don’t matter to him and that tries to convince himself that he doesn’t want to play those games anyways, but it never works. 

However, as Tom gets to the far side of the track where he can barely hear his classmates voices, he is grateful for the peace and quiet. He finally has time to think about himself during the school day and he decides to take this time to cheer himself up by thinking about his review session with Mr. McQueen. The corner of Tom’s mouth turns up ever so slightly at the thought and before he knows it, the bell rings for the students to go back to the lockers to change. 

After Tom changes, he heads to Mr. Clean’s history class where they learn about Christopher Columbus and other Spanish explorers. Tom isn’t even focused on the lesson for the most part, and is instead thinking about what to say to Mr. McQueen, and whether he should say anything at all. Anytime Tom seems to have a semblance of an idea of what to say to him, the thought ebbs away. It’s maddening and Tom almost wishes he had to take a test that period so his stress would focus him. 

Finally Tom sees the other students packing up, and emulates them. He then leaves the room and walks to his art class. Although Morty has art too, Tom isn’t fortunate enough to be in the same period as him. 

Tom sits down at his art class as Mr. Way, the handsome art teacher that reminded Tom of himself sits at his desk. He tells his students to continue working on the art piece they were doing that week, and he walks around to survey their work. Tom actually pays attention in this class, because he knows that he will be in trouble with Mr. Way if he doesn’t. Mr. Way walks by, sees Tom’s artwork, and smiles without saying anything. 

Tom takes Mr. Way’s lack of criticism as a good sign and continues working on his art project. When he finishes he turns it into his teacher, knowing that while it is definitely not the best out of all the projects, that it will at least earn him a good grade. 

Tom walks out of the classroom and walks towards the cafeteria where he would eat lunch with Morty. For once, Tom isn’t even excited to eat lunch with Morty, so he knows something is wrong with him. 

Tom sits down and listens to Morty speak the whole time. But Morty is not the idiot everything thinks he is. “Hey Tom, listen to me, you’ve been kinda out of it today, what’s up?” Morty asks in a caring tone. 

Tom knows that he turned red instantly. No use lying when he looked like this. Besides, he knew Morty would never judge him anyway. “I’m really excited for Physics this year for some reason, and I can’t focus on anything else, and. . . I’m really excited to see Mr. McQueen and make him proud.” 

Just like Tom thought, Morty didn’t make fun of him or call him weird. Instead he silently considers this. “So is it like a father-son pride thing, or do you have a crush on him?”

As soon as the wavelengths of “the c-word” assault Tom’s ears, he feels himself start to sweat. Holy shit, how come he never realized before? Maybe he was trying to block it out and convince himself those feelings weren’t real? But now he had to confront those feelings. He did have a crush on Mr. McQueen!

“I-I think I do have a crush on him,” Tom admits. “Don’t tell anyone- please?”

“Don’t worry Tom, your secret is safe with me. Damn!! This is exciting though; I get to be your relationship adviser right?”

Tom laughs shakily, once again eternally grateful he had such an accepting friend that always made him feel better. “I know that it’s so wrong and messed up for a teacher and student to be in a relationship though; it could never happen!” Tom said glumly. 

“That’s okay, no one has to know about you and Mr. McQueen, it can just be our secret, because I know that you aren’t actually looking for a relationship with him right?”

Tom feels the blood rush to his face and puts his face in his paws to cover it, “no of course not! That’s illegal! Besides, he’s not even my type, I don't know why I’m feeling these things.” 

“Well maybe you just don’t know what your type is, or it just changed over time. It’s pretty natural, so I wouldn’t think that deeply about it.”

“Morty, you’re not helping. I wanted to believe that I could never be compatible with Mr.McQueen.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about it.”

“Well because of you, now I am! Morty, please, let’s just drop it.” Tom says, feeling himself grow weary. 

“All right,” Morty said, because he knows how to respect boundaries. 

The bell rings at that moment, and Morty and Tom get up to go to Mr. Goldenfold’s math class. Morty updates Tom about his plan to join the basketball team on their way to Mr. Goldenfold’s class, and Tom is once again grateful that Morty doesn’t bring up his Mr. McQueen situation. 

When Tom and Morty get to class they sit down next to each other. Usually Tom is the more focused one between him and Morty, but this time Morty has some competition. Good thing Mr. Goldenfold isn’t one of those teachers that calls on students even when they aren’t raising their hand. 

Tom learns nothing from that lesson, and the pit in his stomach becomes greater as it threatens to swallow him whole. 

The fur on his paws becomes matted with sweat and he fidgets as he stares at the clock.

Morty reaches over and places a hand on Tom’s desk. Tom barely registers the hand, but when he does, he looks over at Morty. 

_ “Calm down,”  _ Morty mouths.

_ “I can’t”  _ Tom mouths back, once again bringing his gaze up to the clock. Tom is grateful that he and Morty chose a chair in the back, because there’s no way he could have gotten away with staring at the clock otherwise. 

Morty takes his hand off of Tom’s desk and looks at him with a worried expression, knowing that there is nothing he can do to absolve his friend’s anxious feelings. 

Finally, the bell rings, with Tom’s notes completely blank. Tom knows he will have extra homework to do, and that he will have to look up the lesson on his own, but he knows that there’s no way he could have put his thoughts aside and focused on the lesson. 

As Tom rises from his chair, he feels his limbs moving faster than his mind as he leaves the room. He faintly hears Morty’s pleading voice: “Tom! Wait for me!”

Tom shakes himself from his stupor and waits for Morty to catch up. 

“Guess I can’t blame you, of course you want to see your man as fast as you can.” 

Tom gives Morty a dirty look and Morty smiles sheepishly.

“I guess you’re right, even though I wouldn’t say it like that,” Tom admits with a sigh. 

Tom and Morty continue their walk towards Mr. McQueen’s class and Tom listens to Morty talk about his favorite rock band, Grilled Cheese. As soon as Tom and Morty part ways, Tom’s shoes hit the cement faster and faster. 

Tom ends up being one of the first ones at the gym, only behind the students whose previous class was next to or in the gym. 

Tom sits down in his assigned seat, staring at Mr. McQueen intensely. Mr. McQueen’s eyes seem to sparkle as he speaks. Tom can tell that Mr.McQueen really cares about Physics, and his students’ performance in it. Tom wonders what Mr. McQueen would say if he asked him what his favorite thing in the world is. Would he say Physics? Maybe he had a wife? 

Today Mr.McQueen gives his class a warmup that consists of a 2D Kinematics problem where a projectile is falling off of a cliff, and Tom is given the horizontal distance, initial velocity, and height of the projectile. Using this information, he has to find the final vertical velocity of the projectile. 

Tom is determined to do well in this class, and he is reminded of this resolve as he works on the problem. Tom starts off by writing down the variables he’s given. He then flips through the pages of his Physics notebook until he finds the Kinematics equations he’s looking for. He starts writing the equation down on his own page, but substitutes the variables he knows so that he can solve for the one he doesn’t. 

“Everything going well, Tom?” a voice booms. 

Tom feels his body leave his seat and struggles to regain his bearings. 

“Y-Yes Mr.McQueen, everything is fine,” Tom stammers. 

“Oh, i’m sorry. Did i... scare you?”

Perhaps it’s just Tom’s imagination, but Mr. McQueen’s voice sounds seductive, as if it is meant to lure Tom in further. 

“N-No I’m fine, just working on this problem,” Tom moves his paper closer to Mr.McQueen in case he wants to take a closer look at it. Tom is grateful to himself for having so much resolve in completing the problem, because now he has something to show Mr. McQueen. 

Mr. McQueen turns his head slightly and leans forward to look at Tom’s paper. Tom manages to catch a whiff of his scent: confidence, gasoline, dirt, and the blue gatorade. 

“Very good, Tom. Seems like you are getting the hang of it. Would you mind telling us how you solved it when I go over it with the rest of the class?”

Mr. McQueen straightens and Tom is taken aback by his offer. Tom is not sure whether his prevailing emotions are of nervousness about speaking in class or pride that Mr. McQueen thinks he’s good enough to demonstrate how to do the warmup. 

“Ok, I’ll do it.” He couldn’t very well have said no, could he? Common courtesy aside, Tom is deathly afraid of the disappointed expression that may possess Mr. McQueen’s face if he said no. 

Mr. McQueen walks away and Tom takes out his graphing calculator and finds the missing variable easily. Pleased with himself, Tom waits for the rest of the class to finish and mentally prepares himself to be called on in the meantime. 

Mr. McQueen goes up to the front of the gym to get the class’s attention. 

“We are going to go over the problem now, so everyone pay attention to Tom, who said he would do it for us.”

Tom feels the entire class’s eyes on him. Tom did prepare himself, but no amount of preparation could be enough for this. 

_ I can’t mess up now; I would be disappointing Mr.McQueen.  _

Tom takes a breath and explains the problem to his classmates. The confidence he hears in his voice surprises him. Perhaps it is because of how much he understands the subject material?

After explaining how he solved the problem Tom stares at Mr. McQueen waiting for his approval. 

“Thank you for that, Tom,” Mr. McQueen says simply as he reiterates what Tom said to further explain the problem.

Tom is once again relieved to have Mr. McQueen’s approval and pulls out his vector worksheet to work on it. Some of the problems are difficult for Tom, so he puts them aside and decides that he will finish them at home. In the meantime, he finishes what he can. 

Before he knows it, the end of the period is over and the pit in Tom’s stomach returns. The students start packing up and filing out of class. With every student that passes the threshold of the classroom door, Tom’s heart starts beating faster. Two friends stay longer than the others to wait for another one of their friends who takes a while, but after they leave Tom is alone with Mr. McQueen.

Once again, Mr. McQueen drives to the front of the room and addresses Tom. 

“All right, Tom! Congratulations, you have me all to yourself- t hose words excite Tom more than he likes to admit  -so feel free to ask any questions you may have, even if it means reteaching a concept.”

“Okay thanks, Mr. McQueen” 

Tom looks back down at his paper to avoid Mr. McQueen’s gaze and make it apparent that he is being productive and not just wasting his teacher’s time. 

Despite Mr. McQueen’s eagerness to help, Tom doesn’t know if he can ask him for help. 

About 15 minutes pass, and Tom is finished with most of the problems on the worksheet except the last, hardest, and longest one. He knows that he has to ask Mr. McQueen for help. Tom slowly leaves his chair and walks the agonizingly long distance from his desk to the front of the gym. Thankfully, Mr. McQueen notices Tom. 

“What can I do for you, Tom?”

Tom pushes his paper forward to show it to Mr. McQueen. 

“I’m stuck on this problem.” 

“Holy porsche, you’re really getting this!”

“I used my notebook for most of them.”

“That’s all right, do what you gotta do, baby.”

Tom freezes at the nickname, confused as to why Mr. McQueen’s expression remains calm as he analyzes Tom’s work. 

_ That’s just the way he talks, geez. Stop being so jumpy all the time.  _

“This is a system of equations problem. You have to use the givens to create two different equations, and then use a common variable in both equations to plug one equation into the other.”

“Thank you Mr. McQueen” Tom says gratefully as he returns to his desk. 

Using Mr. McQueen’s guidance Tom finishes the problem and gets up from his desk again. He turns the paper in to Mr. McQueen, grabs his backpack, and gets up to leave. 

“Leaving already? Guess you had enough of me,” Mr. McQueen chuckles. 

Tom laughs shakily. 

“Sorry bad joke, I’m full of ‘em.” He moves closer to Tom’s desk. “Keep up the good work, I’m looking forward to seeing you again.” 

“Thank you again, Mr. McQueen,” Tom answers while walking towards the door. Tom is almost to the door when he hears Mr. McQueen interject again. 

“Tom I don’t think I’ve emphasized how grateful I am to have dedicated students like you, who don’t just do the bare minimum and continue to push themselves, put in the hours, and really muscle it out. In fact, if you ever need help, in school or not, weekend or weekday, even on holidays feel free to reach out to me. If you’re at home you can just email me and we can set up a Zoom so we can chat and push through it together. Worst case, I just won’t pick up. So if you have any doubts, reach out to me, please. That’s all I have to say for today. Goodbye Tom.”

“I might do that if I . . . if I ever need help. Thank you for the offer. Bye Mr. McQueen .” With that, Tom leaves, holding onto the door handle as he exits to make sure it doesn’t slam shut. 


	11. Birthday

It’s Tuesday, and it’s Tom’s birthday. It made Tom slightly sad that no one would know it’s his birthday except for his parents and Morty, but he still feels a warmth in his chest even though his breath creates clouds in the morning air. He’s 18 today, an actual adult. Even though nothing about him physically changed, he feels as if he just stepped on a 6ft tall platform that overlooks the rest of his school. He’s determined to make this day better than his others, and after the feelings Mr. McQueen instilled in him yesterday, that doesn’t seem too difficult. 

Tom walks to his first period and is determined to speak at least once in class. Tom knows that no matter how nervous he is, his thoughts are important and that he deserves to express them. Tom sits in his seat and waits for class to start. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Lola walking closer to him. 

_ What could she want?  _

They are still civil to each other even though they rarely speak anymore. Tom wouldn’t even consider her a friend. Tom pretendes to not notice her until she stands right next to him. 

“Hey Tom, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday. You’re 18 now, and you really deserve to have as much fun as you can get.” 

Tom feels blood rush upward. “That’s really sweet, Lola. To be honest I thought you would forget.” 

Lola’s smiles. “I could never.” 

With that, she walks to her assigned seat and Tom is left feeling even warmer than before. 

The bell rings and class begins. After the bell finishes its lament, Mr. Poopybutthole’s voice slices through Tom’s thoughts. 

“Does anyone know what the significance of Marianne’s occupation as a sculptor of grotesques is?” 

They discuss a book called “The Gargoyle” in class, where a man is severely burned and has to learn to heal from the incident, both physically and emotionally. 

This is Tom’s chance. Surprised floods Mr. Poopybutthole’s breadstick-shaped face as he calls on Tom. 

“It’s significant that Marianne is a sculptor because the main character feels like a grotesque with his own appearance, and Marianne spends her whole life on grotesques, so it's like a beacon of hope for him.”

Mr. Poopybutthole recovers from his surprise. “Oooweee, that’s correct Tom! C-couldn’t have said it better m-myself.”


	12. Mr. McQueen's Request

Tom walks into Physics, still carrying the feelings of excitement from Mr. McQueen’s words from yesterday and from how Morty gave him his favorite brand of catnip for his birthday. 

Tom sits down and sets the gift bag down next to him because he knows it won’t fit in his backpack. He doesn’t even notice when Mr. McQueen drives up to him. 

“What’s this, Tom?” Mr. McQueen points to the bag with one tire.

“Oh, it’s my birthday today, and my best friend got me my favorite brand of catnip for my birthday.”

“It’s great that you have good friends, Tom. Happy birthday from me too.”

Tom surprises himself by not throwing his arms around Mr. McQueen in gratitude. 

Unfortunately, Mr. McQueen notices Tom’s facial expression. “I know, I get that reaction a lot, I create feelings in others that they themselves don’t understand.” Mr. McQueen laughs heartily, unaware of Tom’s mental turmoil. 

Tom laughs shakily, but his heart sounds like a drum to his ears. 

“I’m just messing with you, have a great day. Eat lots of cake, and one more thing, enjoy yourself for me, got it?"

“Yeah, I can do that,” Tom agrees with a slight smile.


	13. Understanding

Monday comes again, and Tom goes to Mr. McQueen’s study session again. He sits down and starts on his work as Mr. McQueen stands by in case Tom’s needs help. Tom is surprised that he remains the only student that has shown up to review sessions so far. Although he feels weird being in a classroom all by himself with Mr. McQueen, he also can’t deny the feelings of joy that overcome him just by being alone in a room with a man that makes bubbles appear in his soul. 

Tom sits down and does his worksheet like usual, when he is interrupted by Mr. McQueen. 

“Hey Tom, you may not be comfortable telling me this and if you are, just feel free to shout it out, but how come you never talk in class? I mean you’re always so quiet, and I know you have good things to say, and you’re not bad at Physics, so what’s up with that?”

A question like this is the last thing Tom thought he would hear. “Uhh I don’t know to be honest. Sometimes I just get scared to talk in class and I’m not really sure why. Although sometimes I am afraid that people will think I’m dumb or I’m weird for talking in class.”

“I understand, that’s a valid fear. I know better than anyone that folks ‘round here are not firing on all cylinders if you know what I mean. I was only asking because if you weren’t understanding the material, I could help you boost your confidence. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about that except give you my own two cents.”

Tom is surprised that such a happy-go-lucky talkative car like Mr. McQueen could understand his feelings and understand that there’s nothing he can do to magically erase all of Tom’s negative thoughts. Anytime he met someone like that and told them about how he felt, they acted like confidence and happiness were easy to achieve and minimized the anxieties Tom felt. They acted like Tom was a puzzle or a broken vase or a game, and it was their job to fix him. They always seemed to get offended or annoyed when Tom tried to explain what it was like to be him and how he couldn’t just fix himself so easily. 

Mr. McQueen sits back down to continue his work and continues working on his own worksheet. When Tom finishes, he gives Mr. McQueen his worksheet. This time Mr. McQueen doesn’t say anything but gives him a large smile and Tom swears he sees both Mr. McQueens teeth and eyes sparkle. 

Tom waves a quick goodbye to Mr. McQueen as he walks out the door.


	14. Momentum

A few weeks go by and Tom tangles his paws in his fur as he stares at his Physics homework so hard that it seems to blur before his eyes. He has a Momentum test Tomorrow and can’t afford to disappoint Mr. McQueen after seeing his proud smiles so many times. . Usually Physics tests contain more than one concept on them, so Tom is especially nervous. considering that he’s stuck on a problem with more than one concept on it. Tom gets up from his seat to take a nap, _quick nap_ , he convinces himself. Tom lays in bed and stares at the twinkling stars outside his window. Unfortunately, Tom’s mind is tired and wants to rest, but his body cannot. Tom rises out of bed, dismayed, knowing he needs to get help but doesn’t know who from. 

_Mr. McQueen did say I could email him. . . He seemed like he really wanted me to reach out to him, otherwise why would he tell me to do it in the first place? Will he be more mad if I get a bad grade, or if I reach out to him now? He did say in the worst case scenario he just won’t respond._

Tom decides to make a bold decision he usually never would. This time it was out of desperation. He gets his sleepless body out of bed and sits back down on his desk chair. He signs into his Gmail account on his laptop and types Mr. McQueen’s email address into the “To” bar. He types his own email address into the “From” bar. Tom has Mr. McQueen’s email memorized because he keeps it on the whiteboard in his classroom all the time. Tom asked Mr. McQueen to meet up, made sure to put his full name,“Tom the Angery Cat” at the end of the email, and sent it. 

_He’s probably not going to respond. Oh, well guess I should just try to do my homework again._

As soon as Tom pulled out his notebook and put it on his desk, he saw a new email show up. 

_Holy shit, it’s him! He already responded?_

Tom skims the email, still shaken from the fast response. 

“I would be delighted to meet with you, Tom. Go right on ahead and click the link to the Zoom meeting I posted below.”

Tom clicks the link and is taken to Mr. McQueen’s waiting room. It doesn’t even seem like two seconds later when Tom sees Mr. McQueen’s handsome face and sterling silver smile on the other side of the screen. Even through the camera, Mr. McQueen’s smile and eyes still sparkle like freshly cleaned glass. 

“Why don’t you share your screen with me so I can see the problem?”

Tom wastes no time and shares the problem that has endlessly plagued him to his teacher.

[Physics Problem (scroll down to #6) ](https://scienceclass.dreamhosters.com/pdfapphys/keys/key%20-%20Fluids4.pdf)

“All right, so just from reading this problem I can already tell that there are some conservation of energy concepts to be applied here, and maybe momentum. Let’s start off with A. Since Block A starts off at the highest point on the incline, it has all potential energy. When Block A is about to hit Block B, it will be at the botTom of the incline, which means that all of the initial potential energy was converted into kinetic energy because the energy is conserved before and after the collision. Why don’t you try doing the math, Tom?”

“Okay, so the equation for the situation would be Ug=KE, because all the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Potential energy is defined as mgh, and kinetic energy is defined as ½ mv^2. Since the circle has a radius of R, and the radius is half of the diameter, the height of the incline would be 2R, so the potential energy will be written as mg(2R).”

“That is mostly correct Tom. Since the arc is a quarter circle, not a whole circle, the radius of the circle will also be the height of the incline. Therefore, the equation is defined as MgR=½ Mv^2. Since mass is directly proportional to both the potential energy and the kinetic energy, we can cancel it out from both sides, so that the equation is gR=½ v^2. Can you tell me how to solve the problem from there?”

“ So you divide both sides by ½ and square root both sides so you get sqrt (2gR)=v?”

“That’s correct, Tom! I think you are starting to understand it. Let's do the next one. All right, so just like I predicted, we will need to use momentum conservation. Since the blocks are the same mass and will collide completely inelastically, they will stick together after the collision, so the equation will be M *times* (initial velocity)=2M *times* (final velocity).”

“Oh and we can substitute in the speed from a as the initial speed. Since the combined mass after the collision is twice as large as one of the masses prior to the collision, the final velocity will be half the velocity prior to the collision because momentum is conserved. The final velocity will be sqrt (2gR)/2.”

“Yup it seems like you got it. Tom would you like to do c for us?”

“Sure, Mr. McQueen! So it seems like since no energy is lost to the track or the air, all the energy stays within the two block system. Therefore, if one of the blocks loses energy, it must be transferred to the other. So in this case, since none of the energy can be transferred to any other object, all of the energy in block A must go to block B. I’m a bit confused about the math though.”

“That’s okay. So if we did the math, the initial kinetic energy of block A would be ½ M *times* [sqrt(2gR)]^2. If we simplify the equation, we would get MgR, which was the initial potential energy of block A.”

“ Oh wow, that’s a lot easier than I thought! Can I try the next one?”

“Go ahead Tom.”

“All right, so the thermal energy generated is the energy that is lost from the block-block system. In other words, it is the work due to friction, which is represented by the formula Fr(L) where the force of friction is multiplied by the distance parallel to the direction in which the work is being done. Friction is **μ** (Fn), and in this case the normal force is equal to gravity, so the force of friction is **μ** 2Mg. The force multiplied by the distance L yields 2M **μ** gL.”

“ Yes, that is completely correct!”

“Kachow! Thanks Mr. McQueen, you really helped me increase my confidence in Physics! I will definitely try not to overthink things next time.”

“Anytime, Tom! You know you can always ask me for help.”

Tom exits the Zoom meeting with Mr. McQueen, satisfied with the progress he made. He looks forward to seeing Mr. McQueen’s face light up after announcing that he did well on the Momentum test. 


	15. Invitation

Tom knew he would encounter a multi-concept problem on the test, but he had no idea the problem would be almost the exact same as the one he practiced with Mr. McQueen, except with different numbers. It was the hardest problem on the test, so Tom knew he would do well. 

Tom looks at the test on this desk with “Tom the Angery Cat” written at the top in pride. He knew that the study session with Mr. McQueen would go well, considering that he got a 90% on the test. Tom has a B in Physics right now, so he knows that his 90% will raise his grade. Tom is used to getting B’s and C’s on Physics tests, which is quite standard, considering how difficult of a class AP Physics is. 

Tom is happy because of one other thing too. When Mr. McQueen was passing back the tests, he whispered in Tom’s ear so softly that his sensitive cat ears strained to hear him. 

“See me after class.”

Those four words made Tom’s heart start thumping all the more harder in his chest. 

_ It isn’t even a Monday and Mr. McQueen wants to see me after class?  _

He waits with bated breath for the clock to reach 3:10 so he can talk to Mr. McQueen. He looks forward to seeing Mr. McQueen look upon him in pride and tell him he is doing well. 

Tom doesn’t pay much attention during the rest of class, but he doesn’t worry about it too much because he just had a test, so he has lots of time to study for the next one. Tom also knows that he can just go home and catch up on what he missed, so just copies what’s on the board during the class period, not even knowing whether he understands the material or not. 

Tom hears a long trill that rings out through the classroom that raises him from his stupor. He takes extra long to pack up his things this time so that everyone else would leave and he could walk to Mr. McQueen’s desk without drawing his classmates’ attention. When everyone else leaves, Tom walks up to Mr. McQueen’s desk. As he walks to the front of the room, Mr. McQueen stares at the computer to his side. Tom knows Mr. McQueen is only pretending to be caught up in his work to make Tom feel less anxious about walking up to him. Tom appreciates the gesture even though he sees right through it. 

“Ah nice to see you.” Mr. McQueen is talented, but he isn’t the best actor. He knows just as much as Tom does that Tom is walking towards him. “I’m sorry I took you away from your precious time spent at home but this won’t take that long. It seems like you are dedicated to Physics so I wanted to offer you an invitation to a one on one study session at my house on Saturday at 1.”

Tom sucks in a breath. “Mr. McQueen, I really want to go. I mean, I think it will be beneficial to me. But I don’t know if my parents will let me especially since they don’t know you at all, and they haven’t even seen you before.”

“I understand. Why don’t you go home and ask your parents. Even if they say no, we can continue our after school study sessions. I’m not a parent myself, but I understand that a child is a gift to every parent, and they would do anything to protect that gift.”

Tom thinks he’s a shitty, last-minute, poorly wrapped gift but he nods anyways. 

“I was just offering this opportunity for enrichment purposes. I was in no way suggesting that you need the extra practice, as you probably already know from your last test score.”

He reaches over with a tire to grab a sheet of notebook paper and writes something down. “Here is my address.”


	16. Argument

As soon as Tom gets inside his house he tells his mother about the opportunity and asks her if he can go. A look of surprise comes over his mother’s face, as she isn’t used to seeing her son so excited about anything. 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. You should ask your father too, just to make sure.”

His father is upstairs, and Tom can’t help but skip steps in excitement. 

“Dad, my Physics teacher, Mr. McQueen, said I could come to his house for a study session on Saturday at 1.”

“You don’t need it Tom, your Physics grade is excellent. In fact, I was just about to tell you how proud I am.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Tom feels breathless at this point. “But Mr. McQueen is giving me this opportunity not because he thinks I need it, but because he knows I care about Physics and sees a lot of potential in me and he knows that II will benefit from the opportunity.” 

His father hesitates for a moment. “Look Tom, I know you really want to go to this study session, and I’m happy to see you so happy. But here’s the thing: we don’t know this guy! I mean, he could be inviting you to his house because he likes hurting little kids, we don’t have any idea what he's really like.” 

“I’m not a little kid though.”

“Yes I know that, Tom.” his father countered in a slightly annoyed tone. “But you know what I mean. As a parent, it is my duty to make sure my child doesn’t get KILLED by going to strange guys’ houses.”

Tom’s frustration builds. “Dad, he's not a strange guy! He’s really nice and he’s always smiling!”

“So did Ted Bundy! You know what he did?”

“Are you really comparing my Physics teacher to a serial killer?”

“I’m just saying that this guy could seem like the nicest guy in the world, but it’s entirely possible that he’s actually a terrible person.”

“Well I still really want to go! I barely get to go anywhere because I never get invited! You know that. Think about how it feels to be me, never get invited ANYWHERE and then when you do get invited, you aren’t even allowed to go!”

His father sighes. “Fine, I know this means a lot to you. I’ll let you go but I will take you there and speak to him before leaving you with him.”

Tom thinks this negates his father’s earlier point about how Mr. McQueen can easily pretend to be a good person even though he isn’t, but he isn’t about to argue. Tom doesn’t really care if Mr. McQueen hurt him. He doesn’t care about himself much, and he will probably enjoy spending time with Mr. McQueen no matter what happens. 

“Thank you so much, Dad. I promise you won’t regret your decision.”


	17. Cozy Cone

Tom stares out the window as his father takes him to Mr. McQueen’s house. Mr. McQueen lives at a place called the Cozy Cone Motel. Tom and his father walk towards what is supposed to be Mr. McQueen’s room and rings the doorbell. Mr. McQueen throws open the door and looks at Tom happily. 

“Did you bring your dad, Tom?”

“Yes, I am Tom’s father. It’s nice to meet you. Tom’s father reaches a paw towards Mr. McQueen. Mr. McQueen touches Tom’s father’s paw with one of his front tires. “I just wanted to make sure that Tom was settled in before I dropped him off.”

Tom keeps his head down all the while, embarrassed that his father is making a spectacle out of dropping him to his teacher’s house. Tom notices that his father tries to see past Mr. McQueen to see all the murderous weapons inside Mr. McQueen’s house. When his father is satisfied, he waves at Tom, tells him that he will pick him up at 3, and walks away from Mr. McQueen’s house. Once Tom’s father leaves, Mr. McQueen invites Tom inside his house. 

Tom looks around at Mr. McQueen’s living room. It’s exactly how Tom predicted it would look like. It’s modest and homely, contrasting with Mr. McQueen’s red finish. There’s a table in the middle with a bowl of grapes on it, a stool next to it, and a small TV in the front. 

“I’m so glad you could show up, Tom. I’m sorry that I don’t have a sofa.” He pointed at his body. “As you can see, I have no use for one. Hopefully you will settle for this stool?” Mr. McQueen points to the stool and Tom notices that it is the perfect size for him to sit on. Tom’s stomach jolts. There’s no way Mr. McQueen had that stool lying around. He got it just for Tom. Tom isn’t sure if the realization makes him feel flattered or guilty. Either way, he might as well give Mr. McQueen his money’s worth and sit down. 

“That’s all right Mr. McQueen. That stool looks very comfortable.”

Tom sits down on the stool and Mr. McQueen takes his place on the opposite side of the table so that he is facing Tom. They sit so that if either of them rotates their body 90º they can see the TV. Tom notices that Mr. McQueen doesn’t bring up the reason for the presence of the stool and where it came from, and he is grateful. 

Mr. McQueen reaches over with one tire and pushes the bowl of grapes towards Tom. “Would you like any?” 

“No thank you.” Tom lies. “I just ate.”

_ Those grapes do look tasty, and I do want some, but I don’t want to use any more of Mr. McQueen’s hard earned money on my own pathetic freeloading ass.  _

“Very well then. Let me know if you change your mind.” Mr. McQueen pulls the bowl away from Tom and sets it down next to himself, thus informing Tom that, once again, Mr. McQueen brought something out just for him. 

Mr. McQueen makes an expression as if he’s thinking. “I apologize. I’ll be right back to get my teaching material for physics.” Mr. McQueen retreats to retrieve his notes. 

Tom has heard the age old expression that curiosity killed him, but he can’t help it. He finds himself looking around the living room to gain information on the aspect of Mr. McQueen’s life that he had never seen until now. Tom is surprised that he hasn’t seen a wife or a girlfriend yet. He hasn’t even seen so much of a photo suggesting a romantic partner, and the only photo that is present is one of Mr. McQueen’s thousand watt smile looking out of place next to that of a rusty old truck that looked 100 years old. Is it possible that Mr. McQueen is . . . single? 

Tom chastises himself for even thinking of it. There was no reason to get his hopes up. He knows that even if Mr. McQueen would ever go for him. Even if Mr. McQueen does swing that way, which Tom doubts he does. Mr. McQueen returns with the physics notes he went back to get. He takes his spot across from Tom again. Mr. McQueen splays out the notes on the table so that Tom can see them. 

“Now Tom, what do you want to go over first?”

Tom leans over so that he can see the notes better. I think I’d like to go over conservation of energy. Mr. McQueen puts the rest of the notes to the side and pulls out the conservation of energy ones. 

“Is there anything in particular that you were struggling on?”

Tom takes out his physics notebook and pencil from his backpack and sets them on the table. “Yeah, I was a bit confused about open and closed systems. I keep seeing problems with those terms and I have no idea what they mean.” Tom poises his pencil over his notebook to start writing. 

“An open system is one in which energy can be transferred in between the system and the surroundings. A closed system is one in which energy cannot be transferred to its surroundings. When you label a system as open or closed, it all depends on what you consider to be a part of the system. Let’s say I set up this stack of paper as my system, and then I move it over. Then it would be an open system because there is outside energy from the work did by me that acted on the system. If I define the system as the paper and me, it would be a closed system because there is no other energy that is being added to the system.”

Tom writes down everything Mr. McQueen says while he speaks. “Ohh ok, I think I get it. So that means that if I push over the same stack of papers it would be an open system again? Because the work that I do to the papers is external energy that I add to the system?”

“That is correct.”

Tom feels a light turn on inside his stomach that warms the rest of his body. 

“Uhh I was also confused about what place thermal energy has with potential and kinetic energy.”

“Thermal energy is the total energy that is lost from the system and that enters the surroundings as heat. It is also known as work done by friction. It lowers the total energy of the system, so the amount of potential and kinetic energy will be lower. Since the TOTAL energy in the system is lowered the potential and kinetic energy will be lowered by the same amount.”

Again, Tom writes down everything Mr. McQueen says. “Okay, I think I get it.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

Tom hesitates. “I can’t think of anything right now, but I’ll let you know if I’m confused about something later. I’ll just work on my homework for now, and I’ll let you know if I’m confused about something.”

“Good boy.” 

Tom's whole body freezes and he stops breathing. He sinks his claws into his paws to stop himself from making the unintelligible noises bubbling in his throat. 

_ Did he really have to say that?? Damn I hope he didn’t realize that I freaked out.  _

Tom looks back at Mr. McQueen who is looking down and grading papers.

_ Damn it, get it together Tom. You really could’ve fucked up there.  _

Tom starts doing his homework while Mr. McQueen grades papers. Tom finds himself enjoying the atmosphere Mr. McQueen created for the both of them. Student and teacher, getting their work done. Sitting alongside each other, acknowledging the other is there, yet both too caught up in their respective tranquil silences to disturb the silence. 

That is, until Mr. McQueen breaks the silence. “Would you like to hear a secret?”

Tom’s head snaps up. His interest is piqued. “Sure.”

“My real name isn’t Lightning. It’s actually Montgomery.”

Tom can’t see Mr. McQueen as a  _ Montgomery _ . Tom is glad that Mr. McQueen changed his name, because even the thought of Mr. McQueen’s first name being Montgomery is jarring to him. “I really can’t imagine you as a Montgomery to be honest. Why did you change your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Montgomery was a bit boring for my taste, I wanted a more flashy modern feel to my name. After all, it is the first thing most people learn about me, and everybody calls me by it, so it just made sense to me to tailor it to my liking.”

Tom thinks about it. “I wish I was brave and creative enough to do that. I think my parents wouldn’t like it if I did that.”

“Sometimes you just have to express yourself and not worry about what others think. If your parents really love you, they would understand. I mean, would they rather have their son happy in their own skin with the name they gave him, or would they rather have him feeling smothered under the weight of what they want him to be?”

Tom’s heart’s rhythm speeds up. 

_ It doesn’t seem like he’s talking about changing his name anymore.  _

“My parents really do love me, so. . . I think they would let me change my name, . . . and express myself,” Tom says slowly. 

“You have a great set of parents Tom. Make sure to tell them you love them when you get home on my behalf. I wish my parents were as accepting as yours, especially when I . . . when I came out.”

A stampede of antelope race through Tom’s heart. He wants to speak so badly and ask Mr. McQueen what he means, but he can’t risk his voice coming out squeaky thin, as he knows it will. Thankfully, Mr. McQueen clarifies.

“Surprised? Bet you never thought a handsome fella like me would have a spare tire in the back.”

Tom stares into Mr. McQueen’s blue stained glass eyes. The light in his eyes that used to make Tom feel like he was at the top of the world now have a depth in them that Tom feels only he can understand. A million emotions run through Tom’s soul. They well up inside his heart, then spread to his stomach, his arms, and his legs, until they engulf his entire body. He opens his mouth to push them out even though he knows his mouth is too small for them to leave. Tom tries anyway, and to his horror, a sob comes out. Tom knows he can’t stop it from happening so he brings his paws up to his face and lets them mop up his tears. 

Mr. McQueen stares at him dumbfounded. “W-Why are you crying Tom? Haha, I’M the one who just spilled out my gas tank!”

Tom doesn’t find Mr. McQueen’s lame attempt at a joke funny, and it’s the first time Tom has ever seen Mr. McQueen speechless. Mr. McQueen also stops smiling for the first time as he drives around the coffee table towards Tom. 

He is right next to Tom and he repeats, “What’s wrong, Tom? Did something I say upset you?”

Tom wishes he could claw out his eyeballs, and he probably would if he wasn’t afraid of Mr. McQueen being falsely accused of doing it to him. “Sorry, Mr. McQueen.” Tom can’t stop sobbing, so he hopes to the gods that never listened before that Mr. McQueen can understand what he’s saying. “It’s just that I . . . like playing with yarn too, and. . . I look up to you. . .” He sucks in a breath. “I never thought I could be as happy and confident as you are because I . . . like men. . . and. . . I like you.” Tom says the last part in a whisper but he peels his paws back from his face slightly to see that of Mr. McQueen, and he knows from his facial expression that Mr. McQueen heard. 

Mr. McQueen’s mouth and eyes are open wide. Tom feels a tire run through the fur on his arm. He peels his paws away from the rest of his face to look at Mr. McQueen. “Do you really mean that Tom?” Mr. McQueen still has an expression of concern on his face that Tom has never seen until now. 

“Yes.” His voice cracks and new tears prick at his eyes. Tom doesn’t know why Mr. McQueen is making him say it again. It was embarrassing the first time. He reaches a paw towards his face to cover it again, until Mr. McQueen grabs his paw before he can lift his face.

“Look at me Tom.” Mr. McQueen says firmly.

Tom turns to see Mr. McQueen’s face. Tom is surprised to see that he isn’t angry, and he still has an understanding expression on his face.

“I know you can’t control who you fall in love with, and it just happens to be me. I know that it’s not appropriate for a teacher and student to be with each other. But I like you too, Tom, so I wouldn’t mind challenging the norms if you’re willing to do it with me.”

Tom can’t believe what he hears. “Y-You want to be with ME? But Mr. McQueen, you’re so handsome and confident and kind and you always know what to say. You could be with any guy in the world, so why would you choose to be with me?”

“Because I enjoy helping you out with Physics Tom. I know we haven’t spent much time together, and I but I love so many things about you. You may not notice me staring but sometimes I do. I love the way you look when you think, and how you grab your pencil when you finally understand something and you want to write it down before you forget. I love teaching you Physics, and I love how you’re the only one of my students who goes out of their way to dedicate themselves to the study of one of my greatest interests.” 

Tom decides not to tell Mr. McQueen that he only pretended to care about Physics to spend time with him, and that he only studied to impress him.

“I’ve had other students in the past who were good at Physics, and who were dedicated, but I enjoy teaching you the most. I’m not even sure why myself, but something about teaching you makes me feel so warm inside.”

“But don’t you think I’m weird?” Tom can’t help it. He starts crying again. Mr. McQueen is just messing with him. “I mean, do you really want to be with someone that’s as awkward as me?” Before he knows it, he finds Mr. McQueen’s tires wrapped around him. 

“Does this answer your question?” 

Tom wants to sink into Mr. McQueen’s embrace in all his gasoline scented glory, but he knows he has to give Mr. McQueen an answer. 

“Yes, it does. Can we just. . . stay like this for a second? You usually make me feel so good about myself, and in your tires, I feel safe too.”

Mr. McQueen answers by holding Tom tighter. After about ten seconds that seem way too short to Tom, Mr. McQueen pulls away and looks Tom right in the eyes. “Look at the clock. It’s 2:50 and your dad is coming soon. He can’t see us like this. And if we are to date each other, you can’t tell anyone, including your parents. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, that’s all right we can still hang out and be friends, just not date each other.”

“But I thought you were the one who said that a child is a gift to a parent?”

“That was before you said you wanted to date me.”

“Fair enough.”

At that moment, the doorbell rings. Tom starts packing up his backpack and Mr. McQueen drives towards the door to open it so Tom can leave. 

“Listen I'm gonna cut to the chase-me, you, dinner. You can come here and I’ll pick you up and we can go somewhere together, I was thinking of a drive-in movie theater or something like that.”

“I would love that.”


	18. Lightning

Tom had told his parents that he was going out to watch a movie with Morty. Tom feels bad about lying to his parents, but he knows that they want him to be happy, so he feels the lie is justified. Also what kind of teenager would he be if he didn’t lie to his parents at least once? Tom isn’t dressed in anything close to his Sunday best, but he is still proud of his outfit, especially considering how bad his fashion usually is. He wears a green button up that brings out his eyes, which are paired with a pair of khakis. Although he has nice clothes, Tom never had the occasion or the confidence to dress up for anything. He always thought he looked ugly in everything he wore, so there’s no point to him dressing up in the first place. Tom still isn’t completely confident in his looks, but he knows that his fashion efforts will be noticed and appreciated by Lightning. 

Tom waves goodbye to his parents, grabs his wallet, keys, and phone and sits in the driver’s seat of his car, careful not to crease his khakis. Using the directions that Google Maps gives him, Tom gets to Lightning’s house. Once he sees Lightning’s house in view, ebullience creeps into body. Tom pulls up next to the curb near Lightning’s house and gets out of his car. 

Tom walks up the door of Lightning’s house and rings the doorbell. Lightning comes out looking noticeably flustered. Yet another first. Tom has never seen Lightning sweat before. His boyfriend looks more polished than ever, and the moon catches the luster of his body and makes sparkles dance all around him. 

Instead of greeting him, Lightning expresses his nervousness the only way he knows how, “your job’s pretty easy today, all you have to do now is stand there and let me look at you.” 

Tom chuckles. Lightning leaves his house and gestures for Tom to follow him. Tom closes LIghtning’s front door as Lightning drives towards the open road with Tom follows close behind. Lightning stops suddenly and looks over at Tom. “What are you waiting for? Hop in!” He opens his driver’s side door for Tom to get inside.

Tom sits in Lightning’s warm seat and closes the door behind himself. “Make yourself at home, because I made sure to make it comfortable for you.” 

Tom follows his boyfriend’s advice as he sits back in the chair and stares out the window. The combination of Lightning’s movements, the beaming night, and “Wildest Dreams” playing from the radio make Tom feel lethargic, and soon he finds himself drifting off to sleep on the way to the theater. 

He wakes up when he no longer feels the motion that lulled him to sleep. He finds himself and Lightning in the parking lot of a drive-in movie theater. Lightning pays for the movie they will watch,  _ After,  _ and buys Tom some popcorn. Tom is flattered and grateful that Lightning is spending so much money on him, but he also knows that now he has to make the most of this night. Luckily, that won’t be too difficult. They drive into the movie itself, and the glow of the giant screen starts to light up their faces as Tom lays back on Lightning’s seat and shovels a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Tom stares at the soft edges of the moon’s dome far up high, and then at his boyfriend, who he knows is thinking about him, only him that night.


End file.
